Category Archives: music

Over the last few months the talented duo, Xeno and Oaklander helped bring our holiday videos come to life. Their upbeat and energetic sound heightened the emotion that was not only tied to telling the story of our American Eagle Outfitters holiday campaign, but glamorized the seasonal product as well. We sat down with the newly wed duo (they just got back from their honeymoon!) to learn about their sound, how they met and their super cute pup, Roland. Take a look below.

AEO:Hey guys, thanks for checking in. Please introduce yourself.Xeno & Oaklander (X&O): We’re Xeno & Oaklander – we’re a synth duo. I’m Liz and my synth partner is Sean, we’re in a band together. It’s minimal electronic music. We’re based in Brooklyn and we have a pup called Roland: it’s a funny name, – he’s named after a famous brand of synthesizers and drum machines from Japan. I’m sure you know the 808 drum machine. American bands like Afrika Bambaataa, Talking Heads and Egyptian Lover used it. More obscure European bands such as Front 242 and Twilight Ritual used it as well. Roland is our favorite brand of synthesizers, and we own so many of them in our music studio that we thought ‘let’s call our dog Roland’

AEO:You guys are a minimal electronics duo. What or who inspired you to get into this kind of music?X&O: We love collecting – we collect synthesizers and vinyl records. We have a big collection of vinyl records and it is by collecting minimal electronic music that we decided we wanted to make this kind of music. The first attraction often when buying an album is the record cover: minimal and sexy. We have been collecting music by electronic bands from today, mostly on independent labels in the US, and from rare bands from the 80s, mostly from Europe. Listening to this kind of music is like discovering something rare. It’s a chilling sensation.

AEO: Out of all the places you’ve performed, what city/country was your favorite concert and why?X&O:Paris was our favorite concert on our Par Avion European Tour this fall. Maybe because they speak French? A lot of our lyrics are in French, because I come from there. Our new album has a French title, Par Avion, that means ‘Air Mail’, quite romantic. I love letters and postcards.

AEO: How did you two become a duo?X&O: I was DJing at a friend’s loft in Brooklyn, and Sean liked the records I was spinning. It was rare minimal electronic music. We started a band straight away and we haven’t stopped since. It’s an addiction.

AEO: What are some of the funniest experiences you’ve had while being in a band?X&O: Our funniest and funnest experience has been getting our dog Roland!

AEO:We recently found out you have an adorable 16 pound Cockapoo, Roland. Naturally when we found this out, we had to send you an ABO Puffer Vest. Tell us more about Roland.X&O: Roland our dog has a thing for fashion… a certain form of vanity! He loves to be styled. His nickname is ‘Designer Dog’.

Roland aka Designer Dog in #ABOSTYLE

AEO:Do his lady dog friends like his new style?X&O: Roland our pup has two lady dog friends – and they are Beagles! Kikki and Poppy. I think they wish they also had a puffer vest. Both beagles live in Connecticut, and it is snowing there right now. Roland is their cool boyfriend from Brooklyn.

AEO:Tell us about any upcoming tours/releases that you have.X&O: We’ve just released a new album on Ghostly called ‘Par Avion‘ – and we’ve just been on a tour of the US and Europe. We’ve got our eyes on Japan for our next tour. It’s a dream of ours!

We’re wrapping up the year with our favorite songs from 2014. Check out the playlist below and be sure to hear it in stores and on our Spotify channel! What are your favorite songs from this past year? Tell us in the comments below.

Afrojack – Ten Feet Tall

Aloe Blacc – The Man

alt-J – Every Other Freckle

Architecture In Helsinki – In the Future

Arctic Monkeys – Do I Wanna Know?

Ariana Grande – Problem

Avicii – I Could Be The One [Avicii vs Nicky Romero] – Nicktim – Radio Edit

We can’t believe its already that time of year again. Black Friday and holiday shopping are upon us which means the mall can get a bit crazy. If you’re planning on shopping Thanksgiving night until the sun comes up Friday morning, AEO has an exclusive Midnight Madness playlist created just for you. Filled with song after song of upbeat and energetic melodies to keep you moving during your shopping escapade. Check out the full playlist below and be sure to follow us on Spotify. Happy Shopping!

If you’ve been to an AEO store on a Friday, you may have heard some of your favorite throwback tunes from the 90’s early 00’s. We received an overwhelming chunk of good news regarding the Flashback Friday Playlist, so we’ve included more tunes to give you a great start to your weekend. Check out the additions to the in-store playlist below and rock out in #AEOSTYLE.

This #MusicMonday, we’re bringing you an exclusive interview and behind the scenes photos of the super-talented, Peter Gabriel influenced and South African natives St. Lucia. Check out the interview below:

Behind the scenes photos of St. Lucia on September 25th at Mr. Small’s Theater in Pittsburgh, PA

AEO: People usually want to know what any artist’s influences are. But we’re going to make you narrow that down to the one album that truly affected your path in music.

St. Lucia: I can easily say Radiohead’s ‘OK Computer’. It was a turning point in the whole way that I thought about music, and it’s still an incredibly impressive album today. My parents got it for me one Christmas because of a recommendation of some guy at a mall that they asked what they should get their son, and I remember listening to it the first time and it sounded like noise. I’d never heard anything remotely like it, and so I wanted to return it, but all the ships were closed because of Christmas weekend. So, I was forced to listen to it a few more times, and it started to open up to me. Eventually, I was listening to it nearly every single day a few times. It made me realize that music can be accessible, catchy and can act in a deeper and more cerebral level as well.

AEO: Being a musician means traveling to a lot of different cities and playing to a lot of different crowds. Which place was your favorite and why?

St. Lucia: Playing in South Africa was pretty incredible to me because when we did it, I hadn’t played there since I left about 12 years ago. My family all still lives there, and so it was incredibly moving to see all of my old friends and family in the audience, and get to hang out with them afterwards.

AEO: Where was your first show together and what was it like?

St. Lucia: Our first show was a secret show at Union Hall in Brooklyn. It was terrifying. We already had a fair bit of hype at that point, and so we felt a lot of pressure to do something great. I think that at that point we were more-or-less standing completely still on stage, at least compared to now.

AEO: If you could bring just three things on tour, other than your equipment, what would they be?

St. Lucia: Toothbrush, Toothpaste, Zebra Shirt.

AEO: Anyone who’s seen any movies about rock bands knows that the tour bus can be like an extension of a wild backstage party or a place for band antics. Tell us the craziest or funniest tour bus story to date.

St. Lucia: Our craziest one, was when we forgot to close the door of our trailer in Minneapolis on our Winter tour earlier this year. It was the coldest day in 100 years there, -40F, and we ended up driving 30 minutes with the trailer open. Fortunately for us, the only things that fell out were two suitcases. Things could have ended VERY badly.

Welcome to this week’s edition of 7 Things We Love! Get inspired by all the things inspiring US right now, from what we’re reading and eating to what we’re wearing and listening to. Let us know what you think about our picks in the comments—and give us yours, too!

WHAT WE’RE WEARING: THE AEO SWING TANK DRESS
We’re all about easy, effortless dressing—especially when we can take a piece from boho to moto with a few simple accessories or the addition of a leather biker jacket. And this dress is one that lets us do it all. We love the bold stripes and the swingy silhouette, especially since it’s forgiving—which means we can eat all the cookies we want…

WHAT WE’RE EATING: GLUTEN FREE PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
…Which leads us right to our next love. These. Cookies. Are. Everything. Now that it’s officially fall, we’re craving all things pumpkin—and these are a great way to satisfy our sweet tooth while still, shockingly, not being too unhealthy. Pumpkin’s full of good-for-you stuff like beta-carotine and fiber, but don’t let that fool you—these taste delicious.

WHAT WE’RE READING: FANGIRL BY RAINBOW ROWELL
Now that we’ve read (and are still obsessing over) Rowell’s Eleanor & Park, we’ve been devouring everything else she’s written. Fangirl is written in a similar style but this time follows Cath (short for Cather), a college freshman who writes widely followed fan fiction, has an identical twin and, in short, is struggling to figure out who she really is in the world. While the passages of Cath’s fan fiction seem a bit extraneous (and, if we’re being honest, we ended up skimming them), the story in between is sweet, honest and funny.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING: GONE GIRL
We’re pretty sure we don’t need to give you a synopsis of one of the most widely hyped, must-see movies of the year. So we’ll just say that we’re going to be first in line to see it. It stars Ben Affleck as the protagonist/antagonist and promises to be just as thrilling and captivating as the book (that pretty much never leaves the bestseller list).

WHAT WE’RE DOWNLOADING: THE PARTYPARTY APP
Not only is this app one of the easiest to use EVER, but it’s SO. MUCH. FUN. You can select 4, 9, 16 or literally infinity photos to upload from your camera roll and put into a slideshow that’s shareable on Instagram, Facebook and even your blog. (Definitely good news for Blogger users.) You can add filters, you can add different frames, you can control the slideshow speed. Basically, it’s a party in your pocket.

WHAT WE’RE LISTENING TO: ELEVATE BY ST. LUCIA
Want a unique throwback sound with a modern feel… that almost sounds like you’re listening to Phil Collins and Genesis, but in a totally new way? This feel-good song will make you dance in your seat and will put the biggest smile on your face. Guaranteed.

WHERE WE’RE GOING: THE HUDSON VALLEY
Want a really great view of fall foliage? The Hudson Valley is where it’s at. A drive through upstate New York is breathtakingly beautiful in the fall thanks to the leaves changing colors on the trees. There’s a ton to do here, from a visit to the little town of Nyack (filled with cute boutiques and restaurants) to the Mohonk Mountain House, where you can go hiking or visit the spa. There are farmer’s markets and places to go apple picking scattered all over the area, too.